ASSOCIATION FOR COMMUNAL HARMONY IN ASIA (ACHA)
www.asiapeace.org & www.indiapakistanpeace.org
4410 Verda Lane NE, Keizer, OR 97303, USA
asiapeace@comcast.net
ENVISIONING A PEACEFUL & PROSPEROUS SOUTH ASIA
Pritam K. Rohila, Ph. D.
I have a dream.
I dream about the day when peoples of South Asia – Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and The Maldives – will be prosperous, and no one will have to go without adequate food, or proper shelter.
Their schools, health and sanitation services, access to good quality food and clean water, and standard of living will match that of the advanced nations of the world.
They will be able to practice their religious beliefs freely, and everyone, including minorities, women, and children, will be protected and live with dignity.
They will live in harmony with all their neighbours as well as with those living on the other side of their national borders.
There will free flow of people, goods and ideas across their mutual borders.
There will be no war or threat of war against each other, and international disputes will be resolved by peaceful means.
I, and other members of the Association of Communal Harmony in Asia (www.asiapeace.org), pledge to do whatever we can to make this dream come true.
In this spirit we are launching our 8th India-Pakistan Peace Day campaign. We urge peace and harmony activists to organize India-Pakistan Peace Day, everywhere, on any day between Pakistan's Independence Day on August 14, 2011 and International Day of Peace on September 2, 2011. "Peace for Prosperity in India and Pakistan" is the theme for this year.
Also please sign our "Petition to end India-Pakistan conflict & bring prosperity to the dispossessed millions" at at http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/acha_2011 It calls upon the Prime Ministers of India and Pakistan "to make a public resolve now to end this conflict and divert your attention and public monies to bring prosperity to the dispossessed millions of women, children and men." Urdu and Hindi translations of the petition are available on our www.indiapakistanpeace.org website.
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Dr. Rohila is the Executive Director of the Association for Communal Harmony in Asia (www.asiapeace.org) . He can be reached at asiapeace@comcast.net
